As the imaging technology matures, image forming apparatus, as a kind of computer peripheral equipment, has been gradually popularized in the office and home environment because of its advantages of fast speed and low cost for single-page imaging, etc. According to different functions, the image forming apparatus includes printers, copiers, multifunction machine, and the like. According to imaging principles, the image forming apparatus includes laser printers, ink jet printers, dot matrix printers, and the like.
With the wide-spread use of the Internet technology, in order to make it more convenient for users to use image forming apparatus, image forming apparatus with network functions are gradually popularized, that is, image forming apparatus that needs to be configured with network interfaces. Under existing technology, following two ways are provided: (1) the image forming apparatus itself contains a network server, and the network server has a network interface, which only requires plugging in the network cable and being assigned an IP address; (2) the image forming apparatus uses an external network server, the image forming apparatus is connected to the network server through a parallel port or a USB port, and the network server is then connected to the network.
The image forming apparatus with network function generally has management and monitoring software. Through the management software, a user can remotely view and intervene the work tasks of the image forming apparatus and set the configuration parameters of the image forming apparatus. Most of the network printing management software is Web-based. Through the monitoring software, a user can view the print job, the operation status of the image forming apparatus and other information. Therefore, the operation of the image forming apparatus with network function is very simple and quick.
According to the present disclosure, with existing technology, although the image forming apparatus can manage and view the operation of the image forming apparatus through the management and monitoring software, how to ensure the security of document transmission of the image forming apparatus is a problem to be solved. Especially, when the image forming apparatus is connected to a specific network, the user often cannot know such connection in time. Thus, if an unauthorized user connects to a network-enabled image forming apparatus through a specific network, it is likely that the real user does not know, which poses a potential threat to the security of network-enabled image forming apparatus.
The disclosed method and apparatus are directed to solve one or more problems set forth above and other problems.